15.9/15.10: MAIL MERGE

DONE BY: VINIDU DEVENDRA

13G

Mail Merge is a method of taking data from a

database, spreadsheet, or other form of

structured data, and inserting it into

documents such as letters, mailing labels,

and name tags.

Used in Schools In offices

Department

Stores Corporate Companies

15.9: SETTING UP FIELDS TO CONTROL RECORD SELECTION

There are a variety of ways to select records for mail merge. Select individual records from the source data Using the SkipIf command to omit records

The SkipIf command lets you enter the criteria or rules that are required.It then processes the data inputted and according to the rules, skips the records that match your commands. In other words, those records will not be shown.

These are the records before the filters are set

TOTAL RECORDS BEFORE= 10

Let’s do an example: Task 15.9Question: Produce a letter for ladies who do not

live in Skipley.

Answer: To have records of just ladies, select the “Edit Recipient List” in the “Mailings” caption on the tool bar.

Then in the title field, click on “title” and then on “Advanced”

And this opens the “Query Options” window.

Step 1:

Step 2:

In the “fields” section: use the drop-down menu to select the “title” field.

In the “comparison” section: use the drop-down menu to select “Not equal to”.

In the “compare to” section: enter the text, “Mr”.

This will filter out all of the men from the available records.

NEXT…

Step 2:

Next…

To remove the people who live in Skipley, select the “And” option from the available logical operators.

• In the “field” section, use the drop-down menu to select the “Add_3” field.

• In the “comparison” section, use the drop-down menu to select “Not equal to” • In the “compare” to section, enter the text “Skipley”.

When you have checked that all search criteria are correct, click on “OK” to create the query.

STEP 3:

The new records are:

TOTAL RECORDS AFTER= 2

ADVANTAGES OF SETTING UP FIELDS OF QUERIES

Easy and simple to use No complex input methods required Very straight-forward sorting Different queries can be inputted

together, rather than individually. So it saves time

The sorting can take place together to give the same results

DISADVANTAGES OF SET T ING UP F IELDS OF QUERIES

Evidence cannot be seen when printouts are taken. Wordings such as “Not equal to female” and “Equal to male” can often confuse people. It can also give wrong search results.

What are Mail merge labels?

Letters and packages need labels to identify the addressee and the sender.

Mail merge produces standardized mailing labels from a data set that complies with postal standards.

15.10 Creating mail merge labels

Used in post offices

In Supermarkets

BanksUtility Companies such as DEWA

ADVANTAGES OF LABELS:

• It saves time• All postal requirements are fulfilled by the inbuilt labels.• Step-by-step instructions are available in MS Word• Easy to use• Multiple labels can be made, following the standardized approach using the “Update all labels” radio button, but each label contains personalized information

DISADVANTAGES OF LABELS:

It needs training and a person with computer skills to create labels and follow the systematic pattern

The page settings of labels; including the margins size, label size, pitch, etc. can cause some confusion. It also requires some mathematical skills.

Lets do an example: Activity 15.6

Produce some mail merged address labels using the following data:

These labels must be 4.5 cm wide and 3.5 cm high and fit four across the page and six down the page. There must also be a 0.5 cm gap between each label.

FIRST… Open a new word document Click on “Mailings” on the tool bar. “Start Mail Merge” “Step by step mail merge wizard”

Once you have this taskbar on your right, click on “labels” radio button and then “Next: Starting document” at the bottom.

Preview 1:

Preview 2:

Next…

• Click on “Change document layout” radio button

• “Label options” in the Change Document Layout section.

• This will open the label options window

Preview

Later… In the Label Options Window, under

Label information, choose “Other/custom” as your label vendors

The “New Label” at the bottom After that, change the label name to

something like: “6 by 4 label for Activity15.6” (6 down the page, 4 across the page. Refer to the question)

*Preview

MAKING CHANGES: Set the label height to 3.5 cm Set the label width to 4.5 cm To achieve the gap of 0.5 cm between each label the Vertical Pitch must

be set to 4 cm (which is the 3.5 cm for the label height plus the 0.5 cm gap.)

The Horizontal Pitch must be set to 5 cm (which is the 4.5 cm for the label width plus the 0.5 cm gap.)

Set the number across to 4 as specified in the task Set the number down to 6 To work out the side margin, you need to add the 4 labels and 3 gaps

spacing between them. This will be 4.5+0.5+4.5+0.5+4.5+0.5+4.5. This is a total of 19.5 cm. But the page width is 21 cm so 1.5 will be the size left for both sides of the margins. So for one side margin, it will be 0.75 cm.

Press “OK” twice.NOTE: Top margin is

set by printer settings. You do not have to

change this!!

Filling in the details…

NEXT: On the “mail merge” window panel on the right, click “Next:

Select recipients” Under “Select Recipients” section, click on the “Use an

existing list” radio button Under “Use an existing list”, click on “Browse” and select

the file “CarJan.csv” then click on “OK” Then on the bottom side panel, “Next: Arrange your labels” Here, under ‘Arrange your Labels’ section, click on “More

items”. Then, click on the required fields. In this case it will be

“Title, Forename, Surname, Address 1, Address 2 and Postcode”

Then click “OK.” Finally, in the side panel under ‘Replicate labels’, click on

“Update all labels”

PREVIEW:

PREVIEW 2:

TOTAL RECORDS= 12

PREVIEW 1:

Click on “Next: Preview your Labels” Under ‘Make Changes’ section, click on the

“Edit Recipients List” Over here, make changes by following the

criteria in Activity 15.5It says: Produce this letter for ladies who do not live in Kings Lynn and Trumpington.

Once this is done, click on ”Next: complete the merge” and you’re done!

PREVIEW 2:

TOTAL RECORDS

=3